At least 42 migrants drowned when their boat capsized between Yemen and Djibouti, UN migration organization IOM reports. The dead include sixteen children: eight boys and eight girls.
It would be Africans who had fled the war in Yemen. It is not clear what caused the ship to capsize. Fourteen crew members survived the shipping disaster.
Throwed overboard on the high seas
Every year tens of thousands of young Africans cross over to Yemen in search of work in the prosperous Gulf states, states the IOM. But corona has closed borders and stranded migrants in Yemen, where a war has been raging for years.
Desperate to return home, according to the IOM, they fall into the hands of people smugglers who sail them back to Africa for large sums on non-seaworthy vessels. In addition, it happens that the migrants are on the high seas be thrown overboard.
In March, 2343 migrants from Yemen arrived in Djibouti, according to IOM figures, compared to 1900 in February. Most wanted to travel to their home country of Ethiopia or Somalia.
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